Two things that have come through my life recently have me thinking about problems and solutions. The first is an incredibly well-presented online video and website called The Story of Stuff. In it, activist Annie Leonard describes her years-long investigation of the lifetime of consumer goods: where they come from, how they get in our […] More »
Scientists have released this map of the world’s oceans and it doesn’t look good. Human activity has left a mark on nearly every square kilometer of sea, severely compromising ecosystems in more than 40% of waters. The Nation has got this great article on how a few alternative schools in the U.S. are working at […] More »
Today marks the 12th anniversary of the initiation of the revolution in Nepal. Led by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), the revolution, called a “People’s War” by its proponents, began with sporadic actions in Nepal’s isolated rural areas in 1996 and now sees the rebels controlling 80% of the country. Mystifyingly ignored by North […] More »
The recent decision by the Toronto District School Board to open Canada’s first black-focused school is being called, by some, a step towards segregation. Though Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty did not use the words himself, he stated that he is disappointed with the board’s decision and that Queen’s Park will not fund Afrocentric schools. His […] More »
Before we start this week’s links, a little note. George Murray, editor of Bookninja, a blog I love and check frequently, just wrote to say that some jerk hacked into his blog and did some serious damage. Someone somehow got in to the site, created a new admin account and disabled all our anti-spam software, […] More »
Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten, a recently-released film about the Clash front man who died in 2002, opens with a young and fierce looking Strummer in the recording studio. Headphones on, he starts spitting out the lyrics to White Riot: “An’ everybody’s doing / just what they’re told to / an’ nobody wants / […] More »
It’s that time of the year again…Israeli Apartheid Week. Born on the campuses of Toronto in 2005, IAW has spread internationally, this year taking place in Palestine, South Africa, the UK, Norway, and in cities across Canada and the U.S. The series of events are being held this week (February 3rd to 11th) in Canada, […] More »
Up to 20 men have been arrested in the African nation of Senegal because they are gay, according to yesterday’s press release from the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC). “Many consider Senegal to be one of the most progressive African countries on the issue of homosexuality,” said Joel Nana, IGLHRC’s Program Associate […] More »
Environment Canada scientists have apparently been ‘muzzled’ by the Conservative government. Apparently, a couple of scientists have been saying things that caught managers and politicians by surprise. t says all media queries must now be routed through the federal government, where “media relations will work with individual staff to decide how to best handle the […] More »
Sigh, repression in Burma continues. Burmese poet Saw Wai has been put under arrest for a love poem he recently wrote. Turns out he hid an anti-government message in his poem “February 14.” The Guardian has the scoop: The eight-line poem in Burmese is about a man broken-hearted after falling for a fashion model, whom […] More »